Three passengers returning from a one-night stop in Portugal were stopped carrying 150,000 cigarettes.

Merthyr Crown Court was told that father and son Kevin and Kristan Thomas were stopped with Benjamin Smith at Bristol Airport on a flight back from Faro in January this year.

The trio, who were also caught with 2.75kg of tobacco, initially denied travelling together and claimed the cigarettes and tobacco were for personal use only.

Kevin Thomas, 45, was caught with 25,000 cigarettes, Kristan Thomas, 25, was found with 60,000 cigarettes, and Benjamin Smith was found to have 31,000 cigarettes and 2.75kg of rolling tobacco.

Luggage belonging to a fourth man, who was not stopped, contained 30,600 cigarettes.

Had they been successful, the three would have evaded tax duty worth a total of £21,000.

Pleading guilty to being knowingly concerned in fraudulently evading duty, Kristan Thomas, of Caerleon Grove, Merthyr Tydfil, was sentenced to 135 hours of community punishment and fined £1,500.

Benjamin Smith, of Brecon Rise, Merthyr Tydfil, an athlete with no previous convictions, pleaded guilty on the basis he was brought in as a courier by Kristan Thomas for a fee, and was not due to make a profit from the cigarette sales. He was sentenced to 80 hours of community punishment.

Kevin Thomas, of Meyrick Villas, who it was said had acted out of character, was found guilty of the same charge after trial, was fined £7,500 and given a 200-hour community punishment order.